Today I’ve got two things to bring to your attention: First, an update on our market and then a recap of an interesting article I recently read entitled “Older Homeowners Are Preventing Millennials From Buying Houses.”

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Let’s begin with an update on our year-to-date market conditions for 2019.
The average sales price for 2019 has gone up to $233,000; that’s a 16% increase from last year. Our absorption rate—the number of available homes—is the biggest challenge we have in our market right now. Active listings have gone up 10% since last year, which is a good thing to see, given that it’s only February. If that trend continues, homebuyers will have more options in the market this year than they did in 2018.
As I said before, our lack of inventory is the biggest challenge we’re facing in our market, and this is what The Washington Post article I recently read addresses—what’s the root cause of our dearth of inventory?
Entitled “Older Homeowners Are Preventing Millennials From Buying Houses,” the article tacks some of the blame for this issue on the older generation. According to a study by Freddie Mac, senior homeowners (baby boomers and war babies) are staying in their homes longer. The reason cited for this is something called “the lock-in effect.” These homeowners are in love with their current mortgage interest rates and are loathe to give them up in search of a new home.
Perhaps there are some other factors at play here. Maybe senior homeowners are living longer because they’re more healthy and they don’t want to go to an assisted living center. This would allow them to stay in their homes longer.

Senior homeowners are in love with their current mortgage interest rates and are loathe to give them up in search of a new home.

Other studies suggest that it’s not just the activities of older homeowners to blame for the housing shortage for millennials. Here are three I’ve come across in my research: 1. Student debt. There is $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the US right now.2. High rent. Increasing rents prevent millennials from saving up for a down payment on a home.3. Millennials are having kids and getting married later. These life events are typical triggers for homebuyers, but since they’re happening later, it’s reflected in the market. To learn more about this issue, you can read the full article here.

If you’re thinking of selling your home or would like more information about our current market conditions, you can always reach out to me. I’m here to help.

Call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

If you’re thinking of putting your home up for sale this year, and you’re planning out how you’re going prepare your home for the market, pay attention—these myths can cause home sellers some trouble: 1. You can do it solo. I’ll say this: Yes, you can sell your home on your own. But I’d follow that up with this question: “At what cost?” There’s always a cost when you sell your home by yourself. This year, an agent I know placed an offer on a home that was For Sale By Owner. We figured out that the home in question was priced at least $15,000 to $20,000 under the market price. Of course, the agent put an offer on the home and got it for a great deal. The seller didn’t know what they were losing out on because they didn’t have access to the metrics that we, as agents, do—metrics that allow us to use data to properly price homes. Unless you’re actively involved with the industry, there’s a lot of critical information you’ll miss out on. 2. You know what your home is really worth. It’s really difficult to assess the value of your own home without a professional understanding of the market you’re in. The emotions a seller has for their own home can skew their perceptions of its worth.
3. It’s fine to sell a home as-is. There are things we can do to prepare a home for sale that allows us to make low-cost, high-impact improvements Before putting it on the market, there are low-cost, high-impact improvements we can make to prepare a home. Touching up paint, updating light fixtures, and cleaning up the landscaping are all examples of simple, little things homeowners can do that will boost your home’s value. Selling your home as-is is rarely a good idea. The time and relatively low amount of money you put into making these improvements will turn into a better price at the closing table.

It’s really difficult to assess the value of your own home without a professional understanding of the market you’re in.

4. Spring is the only time to sell. This absolutely isn’t true—it’s just what most people think. With the exception of crazy, weather-related events, you can list your home at any point there are buyers out looking. Keep in mind the law of supply and demand: When there’s less of something in the market, then demand goes up. This same thing applies to real estate. Since most people wait until spring to list, that means that demand is lower than it would be when there are fewer homes on the market. 5. You can rely entirely on home evaluation sites. These sites are simply starting points, but it’s impossible for the algorithms they use to accurately determine your home’s value. They don’t take into account all the upgrades you’ve done (or haven’t done) when they compare your home to those they have in their database. The only way to get a truly accurate estimate of your home’s value is to contact an agent to have them do a comparative market analysis.

Hopefully, you found this list of myths valuable! If you’d like to read more about these myths (plus an additional one I didn’t discuss here), visit this article from Realtor.com.

If you have any questions or need any assistance selling your home or preparing it for the market, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.

Call me at (616) 942-2449 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Remember: Home sales aren’t about you or what you want. They’re about the potential buyers and what they want. Since you don’t necessarily know the identity of your potential buyers, a good rule of thumb for home improvements is to stay as neutral as possible. Avoiding the following mistakes could help you save thousands of dollars on your home sale.

1. Going too trendy. If your home improvement projects appeal too much to your own taste, it won’t bode well for a home that’s featured on thousands of websites around the world. It diminishes the home’s ability to show nicely to the masses. When it comes to home sales, neutral is definitely better than trendy.

2. Smart house, dumb decision. Smart home technology is getting more and more popular, but that’s not to say that you should assume buyers will always care that much about it. If you’re going to spend thousands of dollars on smart home technology, it’s better to do it for yourself rather than potential buyers.

3. Adding a guesthouse. Most buyers probably won’t care about having a guest home on the property, and they might even just demolish it if they do decide to purchase your home. It’s a waste of money to add one in for the purpose of selling.

4. Rehabbing the roof. Roofs are important to keep the rain and elements out of the home. The challenge is that sellers think they can get more money by putting on a brand-new roof prior to listing. Yes, the roof should be repaired if it’s leaking, but don’t expect to get more money out of a new one; buyers expect the roof to be in good condition. As long as the roof has a few good years left in it, they won’t much care if it’s brand new or not.

When it comes to home sales, neutral is definitely better than trendy.

5. DIYing to cut corners. Sometimes it’s okay to do small home projects on our own, but for many projects, it’s important to hire a professional. There’s a reason why they’re called professionals—it’s what they’re paid and trained to do. If you’re working on a high-impact zone like the kitchen or bathroom, remember that small mistakes stick out to buyers. Don’t overestimate your ability to do it yourself.

6. Opening Pandora’s box. Sometimes you start a project, thinking that it’s one simple thing at first. That project can then turn into another, and another, and another—this can cost you thousands of dollars. Hiring a professional will allow you to get the one project you had in mind finished without creating a bunch more.

If you want to learn more, check out this article that goes into more detail about these home seller mistakes to avoid. For any other questions you have, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. At Yoder Real Estate, we’re here to help you.

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Do you need to sell your home? Yoder Real Estate is in the top 1% of all Grand Rapids real estate agents because - with our systems - we list or sell a Grand Rapids home every 48 hours. In fact, we GUARANTEE your home will sell in 59 days or we'll buy it. Your home will be syndicated to over 383 partner sites, with relentless radio promotion on 106.9FM & 1300AM WOOD to sell it for the most money possible. On average, our listings sell for 98.6% of listing price - much higher than your traditional real estate agent - because we attract more home buyers to your listing than any other Grand Rapids real estate agent, outperforming 99% of all other Grand Rapids real estate agents.

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